CLAYFACE CELEBRITY DIRT #2: Undercover.

Basil Karlo is being impersonated by someone whom he has yet to been able to pinpoint; however, they are ruining his life and everything he has worked for. Now he must go undercover and get to the bottom of the mystery himself, but where is the line that shouldn’t be crossed, and how far is Basil willing to go to expose the imposter?

Creative Team: Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Fran Galan, Patricio Delpeche, Tom Napilotano, Dan Mora, and Rob Levin.

The Story:

This run is a dirty and often unsettling mystery steeped in horror elements, and this second issue really captures this essence. Basil is trying to find out who has stolen his identity because all he wants is to get his life as an actor back. However, there is some interesting questions raised by Jude in that Basil is impersonating an old man who has passed away and even steals phones and pushes the line of unethical in this issue. What I love about this is that Jude is not painting Clayface to be innocent and without faults at any point. It makes us ask ourselves how far we would be willing to go if we were in his shoes as well. Another great point is that Jude is showcasing how people make mistakes and go down wrong paths in life. Does succumbing to things such as addiction or making mistakes make us a bad person? I wasn’t expecting to be met with deeper questions within this issue or run and it’s making for a compelling story.

The Art:

One of the standout features of Clayface is that an artist can play around more loosely in terms of body structures and their various details. In fact, it’s what Fran does extremely well in this issue. There are panels where a character’s eye appears to be melting, or their jaw drops to the floor, lending itself to the unsettling body horror aspect. The use of colors by Patricio offers a grimy feeling as the body parts melt and depicts the underbelly of LA, giving texture to this story and making it stand out to me a lot.

Final Thoughts:

Clayface Celebrity Dirt #2 turns up the dial on body horror and dives deeper into mystery, raising ethical questions along the way. The art team does just enough to deliver the dirty and unsettling vibe while Jude both inputs thought-provoking questions into the story and writes an intriguing mystery. I’m excited to see where this story leads and what the payoff will be.

Overall Grade: 8.8/10

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